Law officer, firefighter to be honored by Legion

Miste Strickland (left) from North Carolina will receive the Legion's Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award; Leslie Young (right) from Pennsylvania will receive the Legion's Firefighter of the Year Award.

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The American Legion will honor a law officer and a firefighter with awards at its upcoming national convention in Houston.

Miste Strickland, deputy of the Nash County sheriff’s office in North Carolina, will receive the Legion’s National Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award on Aug. 28 in Houston. An Army veteran, Strickland served as a paratrooper with the Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command Center at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Strickland is a member of American Legion Post 110 in Nashville, N.C.

The American Legion’s National Firefighter of the Year Award will go to Leslie Young, deputy chief of the Mahoning Township East End Fire Company near Danville, Pa. She has been a firefighter since 1996 and works full time as a senior health physics technician at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.

In February, Young was named Firefighter of the Year by the Legion’s Department of Pennsylvania, after being nominated by American Legion Frank W. Sidler Post 40 in Danville.

The awards are given out by the Legion each year to well-rounded law enforcement officers and firefighters who have exceeded the duty requirements expected of their positions and have demonstrated distinct patterns of community service, coupled with professional achievement. Heroic acts are also taken into account when selecting recipients.